This invention relates to a depository apparatus. The invention is concerned in particular with a depository apparatus for receiving deposit items comprising single sheets and deposits contained within envelopes.
The invention has application, for example, to a depository apparatus included in an automated teller machine (ATM) of the kind which is arranged to carry out a financial transaction, such as dispensing currency notes or accepting a deposit of money, as may be required by a customer. As is well known, in operation of an ATM of this kind, a user inserts a customer identifying card into the machine and then enters certain data (such as a personal identification number, type of transaction, and quantity of money required or to be paid in) on one or more keyboards included in a user console of the machine. The machine will then process the transaction, dispense currency notes or accept a money deposit as may be requested, and return the card to the user as part of a routine operation. If money is to be deposited, the user typically inserts an envelope containing the money (cash and/or checks) through a deposit entry slot in the user console, and the depository apparatus of the ATM transports the envelope to, and deposits it in, a container included in the apparatus. In addition, the ATM may have the facility for accepting single sheet items such as checks or payment slips, and the ATM may have a separate depository, including a separate entry slot for accepting such single sheet items.
Known depository apparatuses for accepting envelopes and single sheet items are arranged to print information such as a sequence number, time of deposit and audit information on the deposit items. Also, such known depository apparatuses include reading means for reading characters, such as magnetic ink or optical characters, carried on each sheet item. Such a depository apparatus also includes an alignment mechanism for ensuring that each sheet item is correctly aligned in relation to the reading means in order to permit the characters on the sheet item to be recognized.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,426, there is known a depository apparatus including a common entry slot for receiving both envelopes containing deposits and single sheet items such as checks, the apparatus including thickness sensing means for providing an output indicative of whether a deposit item is an envelope or a sheet. The apparatus includes transport means for feeding deposit items to a common depository cartridge in which both envelopes and single sheet items are deposited. If the thickness sensing means indicates that a deposit item is a sheet, then the deposit item is diverted to the input end of a separate read transport mechanism which transports the item along a separate read path. Alignment and read operations in respect of a sheet take place while the sheet is being fed along the separate read path and, if necessary, the sheet is passed several times along the read path in order to achieve correct alignment. This known apparatus has the disadvantage that the provision of a separate read transport mechanism takes up space and adds to the complexity of the apparatus.